Silverstone GP

Last weekend June 10-12 I spent with Joe and Matt Roberts at the Silverstone GP. I felt like a VIP with a fancy pass that could get me just about anywhere. I arrived on Thursday the 9th, and after helping Badger (UK coach) move some bikes into the "Wing", which is the new 100 million dollar building and garages along the front straight, I met up with Joe and Matt and got my Red Bull Rookies pass. The pass allowed me access to the paddock where all the MotoGP teams were set up with their hospitality buildings and trailers all painted and proper. I was blown away by the set-up at a European GP, it goes far beyond anything at Laguna Seca. In the paddock it was common place to see the GP riders walking around or buzzing by on their scooters. I pretty much saw every GP rider at one point or another, and talked with a few of them. Past GP riders like Mick Doohan and Randy Mamola were also there walking around. The Red Bull Rookies pass also got me into the Red Bull Rookies hospitality set-up, where I got delicious two and three course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday.

So, after getting the pass Joe and I walked around and socialized with people and some of his fellow Red Bull Rookies racers. We found out that the BMW hospi had mountain bikes that we could ride for free so we got a hold of a couple bikes and Joe and I rode around Silverstone after all the spectators had left. There were lots of other riders and team people walking, biking, and using scooters around the track. Afterwards we went over to Colin Edwards' motor home and hung out with him for a while. We watched "The Big Lebowski" which was hilarious to watch with Colin. He showed Joe and I his x-rays from breaking his collarbone the week before. Only broke his collarbone into 7 pieces and had a titanium plate with 12 pins now, no big deal lol. After Joe went to bed I met up with Karel Abraham, one of my students and also a GP racer, and he showed me around his team's garage and showed me his GP bikes. I was incredibly jealous and wished I could put on his leathers and ride them!

Friday was spent hanging out with Joe and getting him ready for the races the following days. We had one practice session and two qualifying sessions. I spent my time going to different parts of the track to watch him ride. Friday night Joe and I went to a field outside the paddock and played football (yes, I'm writing the European word for the sport seeing as I'm in Europe!) with a bunch of the Red Bull Rookie kids. It was very, very fun running around and playing football with little racer kids from all across the globe. Football really is a sport that unites people from all over. I had so much fun that I broke my cheap pay-as-you-go UK phone and spent the rest of the weekend trying to decipher messages through a busted phone haha.

Saturday Joe had his first race in the afternoon. He had qualified 23rd, and got up to 10th during the race. On the last lap he got pushed wide off the track and lost positions and ended up finishing 16th. Bigtime bummer considering Joe had ridden such an excellent race but hey that's racing. Saturday night we hung out with Colin again and then played football before crashing out for the night.

Sunday was race-day for the rest of the paddock. Teams were in high gear buzzing around getting ready for the races. It was pouring down rain and very cold for the entire day, and this means extra preparation for all the teams. Bikes have to be fitted with rain tires, bike set up changes for the rain, both the suspension and electronics, and riders have to make sure they have the proper gear. I watched most of the racing from inside the Red Bull Rookies hospi where they have a live feed of the race. Kind of funny watching a race on TV when the bikes are just outside the door flying around lol. Truth is the coverage is just better on the TV and I didn't have to freeze my balls off outside. At the end of Joe's second race which he finished 14th (pretty good for starting 23rd!) the packing up began. All the GP teams were already in high gear packing up all of their stuff, getting ready to drive to Assen in the Netherlands for the next round. After Joe split with family Matt and I hung out in the motor home that he rented and chatted about racing.

All in all I had an absolutely incredible weekend and felt extremely spoiled. I can't believe that I have 3 (possibly 4) more weekends just like this coming up at different countries throughout Europe.